Spain's unemployment rate hit record levels in the second quarter of this year, leaving one in four of the working population jobless as austerity continued to bite and fears of a national bailout grew.

Figures released by the national statistics institute revealed that the second quarter, traditionally a time when employment picks up for the tourist season, recorded a rise in unemployment to 24.6% as a further 53,000 people joined dole queues. That broke a previous record set during Spain's last major recession 18 years ago.

Some 5.7 million Spaniards are now unemployed. The under-25s are suffering most, with 53% unable to find work.

One in three people are now jobless in the Canary Islands and across a swath of western and southern Spain covering the regions of Extremadura and Andalucia.

Almost half of the unemployed have now been out of work for more than a year as the devastating decline in construction jobs that began four years ago shows no sign of improvement.

Cuts in government, regional and municipal spending have prompted the number of public sector workers to fall by 5% over the past year. Town halls have cut their workforces by 11% over the same period.

The government has admitted that Spain's double-dip recession will continue for at least another full year, with the economy set to contract in both 2012 and 2013. Job creation is unlikely to be boosted in the near future.

As part of a €65bn austerity package to cover the next two and half a years, Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, cut unemployment benefits earlier this month.

First-time job seekers receive no state help and in Madrid only 60% of the rest now receive benefits. The number of households with no breadwinner has now reached 1.7m.

Some relief came with the fall in Spain's borrowing costs after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi vowed on Thursday to do whatever necessary to save the euro.

His declaration was taken as a sign that the ECB would try to prevent a Spanish bailout, which many analysts fear could lead to the break-up of the currency. Yields on Spain's 10-year bonds dropped from 7.7% to 6.7% in just two days.

Among others measures, the ECB could buy up Spanish debt itself or give a banking licence to the eurozone's official rescue funds so they can increase the resources available to help Spain.

"There will be no bailout," the deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria, said. "That is not an option."

A finance ministry spokeswoman on Friday denied that economy minister Luis de Guindos had discussed a bailout with his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble, earlier this week.